People with disability living in poor conditions while spending most of pension on housing

People with disability have told the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability that despite spending almost all of their income on housing they have experienced inaccessible and unlivable conditions.

Victorian Public Advocate Colleen Pearce spoke of issues in finding out which facilities were not meeting quality standards and raised a concern over the growing number of accommodation sites which appeared to be unregistered SRS.

Dr Pearce says the safeguarding and regulatory system "isn't nimble" like the dodgy service provider market is and because regulatory bodies move slowly they can sometimes lose track of people and are not able to step in when help is needed.

She adds that although placing people into a public guardianship limits people’s rights, there is sometimes no alternative to get them out of these living situations.

People with disability living in poor conditions while spending most of pension on housing - Disability Support Guide